Apartment Living
by Heart Like Memphis
Summary: Quinn is finally done of high school so she decides to move to NYC. How is she going to handle living with former enemy&rival Jesse St. James as a neighbour? Future St Fabray story.
1. Chapter 1

_I think I have a problem..I keep getting different ideas that I want to write about.. they all involve St. Fabray.. I just can't help myself. The more graphics & talk about St Fabray I see the more I want to help the cause and considering that I fail at making graphics writing fanfics seems like the only thing I can do so here we are. This fanfic takes place in the future and everything that has happened in the show would've happened in this story too._

New beginnings. Nineteen year old, Quinn Fabray, was taking her opportunity to gain a new beginning. It was time for a fresh start. Her conscience was clear and she was ready to start a new chapter in her life. The former Cheerio and glee clubber had graduated from McKinley High. University came next. At first Quinn hadn't been sure what she wanted to do or where she wanted to go. She knew that she needed to go to university because that had always been her parents' plan. Her father still considered her to be disowned and even though Quinn was furious at him for what he did to her mother there was still that part of her who wanted to please him. She had always been a daddy's girl, old habits die hard.

New territory. Lima, Ohio was a good place to grow up in but Quinn did not like the idea of being a Lima loser forever. Now that she was going to be on her own she wanted to go somewhere exciting. She wanted to live in a place where no one knew anything about her, a place where her past wouldn't follow. Where might this place be? New York City. Quinn was accepted by the university there so she decided to give it a shot. NYC seemed fun. She had always thought that visiting there would be fun, now that she had the chance to live there she wouldn't pass.

Quinn stepped out of the taxi. The driver helped her with her bags. She paid the man and then focused on the building in front of her. It was the apartment building that she'd be living in. She was nervous. Very nervous. Taking a deep breath Quinn entered the building. She felt like a mess when she first met the landlord. She had called him earlier, letting him know that she'd be arriving soon so he was waiting for her. She assumed that she looked foolish considering she had been trying to move large traveling bags and juggle the smaller ones. The landlord seemed like a nice guy, thankfully. He explained a few basic rules, told her which room she'd be staying in and gave her the key.

Now it was time for another obstacle. Stairs. There was an elevator but it didn't work. Oh well, a little exercise never hurt anybody? Right? Quinn let out an exaggerated sigh. She had gotten her luggage up one level of stairs however she was supposed to live on the third floor. Two more sets of stairs. This seemed more like a punishment than exercise.

"Do you need any help?"

A male voice broke Quinn's thoughts. She looked up to see a lanky young man with short curly hair. He appeared to need a shave due to the small amount of scruff on his face. Quinn looked at him, her luggage and then back at him. "A little help would be nice.. If it's not to much trouble.." She offered a smile.

"It's no trouble at all."

The young man took a few of the bags from her and the two began to climb the next set of stairs.

"So I'm assuming you're new here." He said with a slight chuckle, "I'm Seth."

"It's nice to meet you Seth, I'm Quinn. And yes, I just barely arrived actually."

"Well welcome to New York Quinn. What floor are you staying on?"

"Um, third."

"No kidding"

"Is that good? or bad.." Quinn asked.

"I think it's good considering the fact that I live on that floor too. I believe this will make us neighbours."

"Oh. How lovely." Quinn smiled once again. So far this guy seemed nice too. Maybe making new friends would be easier than what she had expected. Having good neighbours would be a nice start. Hopefully he wouldn't turn out to be a creeper or something along those lines. She thought he was kinda cute. Having him turn out to be a weirdo would be upsetting.

The two found their way to the third floor. Seth helped Quinn put her luggage into her new home. It was nice. There was a good sized living room/kitchen area, a bathroom and one bedroom. Her only other neighbour would be Seth. This could work out well. Seth left her alone after inviting her over for supper. Quinn told him that she'd come over after she put some of her things away. She felt like saying no to his offer would be rude, clearly he was just trying to be a good neighbour.

Seth rushed across the hall over to his own place. "Hey, guess what?" He called out as he made his way in the direction of the bathroom.

"What?" Jesse St. James stood in the bathroom. The air was humid, it was obvious that he had taken a shower recently. Currently he was wearing a pair of jeans, a white button up shirt with a black v-neck sweater over it. He focused on his reflection in the mirror, his hands worked slowly to fix his hair.

"We have a new neighbour!" Seth stated eagerly.

"Excellent. I was getting tired of Mr. Lemieux anyway. I mean he was a nice guy but he wore that hideous robe too much. Sometimes I've wondered if he ever realized that it was too small.. Seriously, there are some things that you just can't unsee."

Seth laughed, "Trust me buddy, this new neighbour is a major improvement."

"To tell you the truth I think even Oscar the Grouch would've been an improvement but okay, you've intrigued my interest. What makes this new neighbour so great?" Jesse questioned, finally looking away from the mirror now that his hair was presentable.

"You'll have to wait until supper. I invited her to join us."

"Ah, so the new neighbour is a girl. I now understand your interest." He flashed a slight grin.

"Yes. She's pretty hot too." Seth pointed out, the two boys left the bathroom and entered their kitchen/living room area. Seth stretched out on the couch, Jesse stood over by the counter. He was fixing his sleeves, he rolled them up to his elbows. "Good to know." He stated, his eyes drifted over to his friend.

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Dude, that's her. Answer the door!"

Jesse walked over to the door and as requested, answered it. He slowly opened the door and was shocked with what he saw. "Quinn?"

Quinn had been excited to see her new neighbour again but suddenly the excitement left her face when she realized who opened the door for her. She'd be able to recognize those curls anywhere but that didn't stop her from also being surprised, "Jesse?"

_So what do you guys think? Shall I continue this? Also, Seth will be played by Adam Brody because I love him lol. Reviewwwww, give me some feedback._


	2. Chapter 2

_So I've decided that Seth will be Seth Cohen! At first I thought I'd make him an original character but Seth Cohen is too awesome to ignore, a lot of people mentioned him in their reviews so I'm just gonna go with it. Just consider this awesomeness right here, The OC + Glee. I hope you love it ;)_

_"Quinn?"_

_"Jesse?"_

Seth stared up at them in disbelief, "You two know each other? That's great!"

"Not really!" Quinn looked up at Jesse, he had barely changed from the last time she had seen him. His hair was still kept short and curly, his style was still dark and old fashion.

Jesse's eyes stayed on Quinn. All of the weight from her pregnancy was gone and she had matured slightly however her attitude seemed to be the same; how annoying. "Great would be the last word I'd use for this situation. I was thinking something more around the lines of inconvenient, dreadful or repugnant."

"You could've just said bad!" Quinn snapped in a harsh tone.

"I'm sorry, were the words I used too big for you to understand?"

"Shut up jerk."

A smug grin was present on Jesse's lips. Quinn was standing with a very annoyed look on her face. Seth continued to lay on the couch, confusion was the expression that his face portrayed.

"Well this isn't awkward at all.." Seth mumbled to himself sarcastically.

Another man arrived behind Quinn, it was the pizza delivery guy.

"Supper's here. Woo hoo." Jesse stated, also using a sarcastic tone, he pushed passed Quinn to take the pizza from the man. He pulled his wallet out and paid. Seth sat up when Quinn was moved further into the room. He offered her a place on the couch to sit however she denied his offer by simply standing there instead.

Jesse set the pizza box on the kitchen table, "To save us from further discomfort I'm going to take my pizza to go." Grabbing a napkin Jesse stacked two slices of pizza onto it so that it'd be more mobile.

"And I think I'm going to go too." Quinn stated, her eyes locked on the door.

"Fine by me" Jesse replied, "Although I'm still leaving. I need to stop by the music store, some of my new cds have finally come in."

"But Quinn, at least take some pizza. You need something to eat." Seth told her but it resulted in her shaking her head, "No thank you, it was nice meeting you Seth but I really can't. Maybe we'll try this again some other time when we'll have no.. rude interruptions."

"I wasn't interrupting anything, I merely answered the door." Jesse corrected before exiting the apartment.

Quinn groaned, following him out the door and then walking into her own apartment across the hall.

"Bye?" Seth was alone now. He was baffled, why did Jesse dislike Quinn? She seemed like a nice girl although he had to admit, when she saw Jesse her personality did a 180 from when he had met her earlier. Was the personality he had been introduced to fake? Or did Jesse just bring out the bad side of her. Death Cab for Cutie's music flowed from the speakers in the living room. Seth sat on the couch eating his pizza and considering different reasons to why Jesse and Quinn disliked each other so much. He also pondered another question; how did they know each other in the first place?

The next morning there was an awkward silence during breakfast. Seth was seated at his spot on the couch eating a bowl of Kellog's vanilla almond cereal while watching the original Spider-Man cartoon. Jesse was sitting in his recliner, eating the same cereal as Seth however his eyes were focusing on the newspaper in his hand. This was all part of their normal morning routine however it was different today because Jesse wouldn't speak. Usually the boys would discuss the episode or Jesse would tell Seth which article was fascinating or worth reading before passing the newspaper to him. Today there was nothing.

"What's the deal with you and Quinn.. why did you have to be so rude?" Seth muted the cartoon.

"Trust me, if I hadn't started it she would've for sure." Jesse's eyes didn't leave the paper as he spoke.

"How can you be sure? You didn't even give her the chance."

"Seth, do you remember how Summer used to treat you before you two started dating? Quinn is basically a cheerleader version of her. Actually, I think Summer would've been considered nice compared to Quinn."

"I thought we banned the topic of Summer from conversations."

"We did but drastic times call for drastic measures."

"How is this a drastic time?" Seth was now flustered, Jesse assumed that this was because of the mention of his ex girlfriend. Seth had dated Summer for a couple years but she had been stolen from him by an evil water polo player, or so he had said.

"I don't know. I'm experiencing a blast from the past, ease up on me!"

"At least tell me how you know her."

"It's a pretty simple story. We lived in the same town however we went to different schools. Those schools were rivals and we were both part of glee clubs which increased the rivalry."

"Is that it?"

"Basically."

Seth stared at his best friend, "There has to be more than that? A high school rivalry can't make people that angry."

"You'd be surprised" Jesse ate another spoonful of cereal, "Although at one point I did date their glee club's best performer and transferred schools to spy so.."

"That makes a bit more sense however your response still doesn't please me. You graduated years ago, this whole anger thing should be gone by now. I think that you should go apologize to her and start over with a clean slate."

"I hope you realize that even if I make nice with that girl you still don't stand a chance of dating her. You're not really her type."

Seth frowned, "What is her type then?"

"Well back in high school she dated jocks."

"Figures." Seth finished off his bowel of cereal, "But you know, that doesn't bother me. I've beaten the odds before, maybe I can do it again!"

Jesse chuckled, "Whatever man, you do what you want."

"So you'll apologize then?"

"Can't you work your charm without me having to go through with an apology?"

"No."

"I guess you'll just have to stick with your imaginary girlfriend then."

"Come onnn" Seth begged, "Pleaseee?"

Jesse looked at the young man, "You're really pathetic. I'll consider.. It depends on what mood I'm in the next time I see her." Considering the fact that Jesse was never in a good mood when he saw Quinn he assumed that there wouldn't be an apology in his future.

That afternoon Jesse was in charge of laundry duty. He made his way to the laundry room which was located in the basement of the building. The young man took his time sorting his and Seth's dirty clothes, making separate piles for whites, bright colors and darks. He hummed softly as he worked. Once he was finished sorting the clothes he poured a cap full of laundry detergent into the washer. He threw a load of clothes in and started up the wash cycle. Now he had about an hour to kill while he waited for the clothes to wash. He was just about to leave when he turned to see Quinn enter the room.

Quinn was holding a white shirt, it had been the shirt that she had wore to bed and during breakfast she had accidentally spilt coffee on it. Stains were never good. When she realized that Jesse was also in the laundry room she groaned. "Are we always going to be running into each other now?"

Jesse leaned against the washer, "Most likely. Are you excited yet?" He flashed a teasing grin.

"So excited." Quinn went over to the sink and began to run water over the stain on her shirt.

Jesse watched her intently, "Do you need any help with that?"

"No thanks, I can do my own laundry."

"But it would help if you used a stain remover." Jesse pointed out, "Here, allow me." He grabbed a bottle of stain remover from the shelve of cleaning products. Jesse went over to Quinn and despite her refusals he took the shirt from her. Jesse poured some of the stain remover on the stain and then set it on top of the dryer. "You need to let it sit for a few minutes. If you want I can put it through with my load of whites."

"Why are you doing this?" Quinn questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Consider this my apology for last night."

"You really think that doing my laundry will excuse your actions?" Quinn asked almost amused by this idea.

"That's what I'm hoping."

"Okay fine. Consider your "apology" accepted." Quinn said, "But when you're finished cleaning my shirt I want Seth to return it, not you."

"Works for me." Jesse replied.

Quinn nodded and then turned to leave, "Have fun laundry boy."

Jesse rolled his eyes as she left. This worked out almost nicely, cleaning one shirt was a lot better than an apology. It's not like she deserved one from him anyway! In his eyes he was in the clear. She was the villian in his books.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello, sorry for the wait but i hope that you all enjoy this chapter :) _

As promised Seth was the one to return Quinn's shirt. Nervously the young man walked across the hallway and stood in front of her door. Holding the shirt in one hand he used the other to knock twice. He heard a muffled voice on the other side telling him that the door was open. Seth turned the door knob and walked inside. There were still boxes everywhere. Quinn was sitting on the floor in the middle of the mess. She was emptying boxes and Seth thought that she was trying to organize things although it was hard to tell.

"Hey Seth" Quinn greeted with a smile on her face.

"Hi" Seth returned the smile, his eyes caught sight of the folded shirt in his hands, "Right, uh, I have your shirt. It's now clean and stainless." He walked over to where she was sitting and handed her the shirt.

"Thanks!" Quinn took the shirt from him and set it in a pile with more shirts.

"So.. do you need any help?"

"Sure"

"What can I do?"

Quinn bit her lip gently while looking at Seth and then the many boxes. Making a quick decision she spoke, "How about you empty out that box?" She pointed to the box which was closest to him.

"Alright, I can do that."

Seth sat down on the floor beside the box. He then began to carefully remove items from it. "How are you liking things so far?"

Quinn added another shirt to the pile, "I like it here. New York is amazing! Not to mention everyone in this building seems nice, especially my neighbour.. he's a real cutie too." She said while showing off that adorable smile of hers.

A quirky grin formed on Seth's lips."Well I'm glad that you're adjusting to things here but tell me more about this neighbour of yours?"

Quinn continued to smile as she spoke, "I can't tell you that much.. I only met him yesterday so I don't know that much about him.. although he does have beautiful brown eyes."

"Ah, I see.. Maybe you should try to spend more time with this guy?"

"That's a good idea. I'll have to talk to him about it."

"Going out for coffee is always nice. Maybe a little tour of the city too? I'm just throwing out ideas here. Anything to help the cause."

"You're just full of ideas. I like both of them. I hope that he does too."

Seth's eyes looked away from Quinn so that he could focus on the shirt he needed to fold, "I'm sure that he'll love them."

Quinn moved onto a different box, "Good. Do you suppose this neighbour of mine would be busy on Thursday?"

"I think he might be busy during the day but Thursday night is completely open."

"It's a date then."

Seth thought that his face might break from smiling so much. He was just waiting for a muscle to be pulled. When he was little his mother always told him about the myth where if the wind changed your face would stay the same forever. If that happened right now Seth would be totally fine with it. Seth had just barely met Quinn yesterday but there was something about her that made him feel like he had known her for a longer period of time. She had so many positive qualities; her smile is infectious, her laugh is adorable, her personality is just very charming in general. She was incredibly easy to talk to. She'd invite you in with that smile and soon enough you'd be chatting like old friends.

The fact that she had agreed to go on a date with him was astonishing. Before coming over to her apartment Seth had been scared that once he saw her again he'd start babbling like an idiot but thankfully he had been able to keep things together and act somewhat smoothly. It made Seth even happier that Quinn seemed excited about the idea of spending more time with him. Jesse had told him that he didn't stand a chance with Quinn Fabray, Seth couldn't wait to tell him that he was wrong.

Speak of the devil. Clearly Jesse must have the ability to perform Jedi mind tricks because as soon as Seth thought about his friend his cellphone began to ring. Seth pulled his phone out and checked the text message that he had received.

_Seth, where are you? If you went to the comic book store again can you pick up some milk on your way home? We're out._

"Is everything alright?" Quinn asked, she stood up and picked up a pile of clothes she had sorted.

"Uh, yeah, just a text from Jesse.. Apparently we need milk." Seth replied, Quinn listened to his response as she walked over to her bedroom, the door was wide open so she could still hear Seth while she put clothes away.

"Right, the only downside about my new neighbour is that his roommate is a huge egotistical jerk."

Seth frowned at her annoyed tone, "Egotistical maybe but Jesse isn't a jerk. He's my best friend!"

"Best friend? Wow, I didn't know that Jesse could care about someone other than himself. He must've went through some personal growth since the last time I've seen him."

Seth was a fan of sarcasm but not in the way that Quinn was using it. Things had been going so well with Quinn but then just at the mention of Jesse she changed. Seth didn't like this Quinn. He especially didn't like her talking badly about his friend.

"I think that if anyone needs personal growth it's you.. What makes you think that you can talk negatively about a guy who you haven't seen in years? People can change Quinn."

"Jesse isn't like most people. I like to think that he's part of a different species.. a breed of his own."

Since Quinn was in her bedroom she wasn't able to see Seth's frustrated expression. The young man stopped taking out clothes and stood up. "Jesse was right about you.. This was just a waste of time.. Consider your neighbour busy Thursday night. He's now booked up solid and none of his plans involve you." With that said Seth left Quinn's apartment. He walked back across the hallway into his own.

"Hey Seth" Jesse said when his friend entered their apartment.

"You were right about Quinn." Seth sprawled out on the couch.

"Was there ever any doubt? I'm always right." Jesse stated in a matter of fact tone, "Although I'm confused, when did you see Quinn? Also, where's the milk?"

"I had to give her that shirt back.. and I didn't get milk."

"I don't understand how that would create a negative event, I thought you liked Quinn?" Jesse paused for a moment, "No milk.. that just won't do. I really should go pick some up, neither of us are morning people.. if we wake up and there's no milk to go with our cereal we'll be extra irritable. No one wants that." He went over to the coat rack and selected a jacket to wear.

"Jesse, who cares about milk? I just lost a date because of you!" Seth sighed.

"You'll care about it in the morning.." Jesse muttered while putting on his jacket, he didn't understand what his friend was talking about. How was he the cause of Seth losing a date? "Explain to me how I made you lose a date?"

"It's pretty simple, things were going great with Quinn. We planned to go out this Thursday but then you called and ruined everything!"

"I believe it was a text, not a call, you're still not making sense though."

Seth let out another sigh, "Okay maybe I was wrong, maybe Quinn was right! Or maybe you're still right.. Better yet maybe you're both wrong! I don't know. I'm just.. I'm gonna go to bed."

Jesse watched his friend rush off to his bedroom, what did he do wrong? What did Quinn say? So many questions but Jesse had no answers. He didn't understand it, if the girl would've been someone else and Jesse would've been around then he could understand how he might steal this girl away from Seth, even if by accident, causing him to lose another date but Jesse hadn't even been there! Not to mention the fact that Quinn would choose Seth over himself any day because they didn't get along.

It was against his better judgement but Jesse stopped by Quinn's apartment before heading on his milk run. He knocked on the door, impatiently waiting for an answer.

Quinn opened the door, saw that it was Jesse and immediately tried to slam it in his face. No such luck. Jesse quickly forced his arm up against the door keeping it open. "What are you doing here?" She questioned.

"What did you do to Seth?" Jesse posed his own question completely ignoring Quinn's.

"I didn't do anything! We were just talking."

"Talking about what?" Jesse pressed on, he wanted to know what made Seth so upset.

"Why do you care?"

"Well, let's see, Seth is my best friend and I'm not fond of seeing him upset! I also don't like it when I'm the cause. Which reminds me, how did I cause this if he was with you?"

"You sorta came up in conversation..I guess he didn't like the way I talked about you?" Quinn admitted keeping her gaze away from Jesse.

"I assume that you tried to brainwash him with lies." Jesse's smugness made Quinn roll her eyes.

"You being an egotistical jerk isn't a lie."

"When you've got a talent like mine you're allowed to be egotistical."

Quinn shook her head, "No one ever has the right to act that way. Not even you."

"I disagree but if that's all you did then I'll talk to Seth. Keep your Thursday open." Jesse moved away from the door, "Now that, that's settled I'll be excusing myself from this conversation. I've got some things to take care of."

"Going to get the milk?" Quinn asked with what Jesse thought was a small hint of a smile. Maybe.

"Why yes, yes I am. So goodnight." Jesse left and Quinn closed her door. She couldn't believe it. For the first time in her life she was actually glad that Jesse St. James came to talk to her. She felt bad that she had screwed up things with Seth so quickly. Even if dating didn't work out she still wanted to be his friend. Knowing that Jesse might possibly be able to fix things for her made her happy. Perhaps Seth was right, maybe people could change.


	4. Chapter 4

As promised Jesse had convinced Seth to go on his date with Quinn. Seth took her sight seeing, gave her a tour of the city. That tour ended with central park. The two walked along the path until they found an unoccupied bench. They took it over in a matter of seconds.

"So, have you enjoyed yourself today?" Seth asked with a smile.

Quinn shook her head, "Nope, not at all." She stated, flashing her own smile to show that she was joking.

"Liar." Seth exclaimed when he saw the smile.

Quinn pretended to be shocked, "Seth! I would never lie! How dare you accuse such a thing."

"Then say that you had a good time with me."

"Fine." Quinn replied, "Seth Cohen, I had an incredible time with you today."

"Much better." Seth said with a cheeky smile.

Quinn rolled her eyes teasingly and pushed him. "I want to apologize.. again.. For what I said about Jesse. I feel bad for upsetting you." Quinn added.

Seth shook his head, "Like I've said before, it's fine. I overreacted."

"No, you didn't." Quinn continued, "You were just looking our for you friend. That's a good quality to have."

Seth smiled a little.

"Tell me how you met him."

Seth looked out at the rest of the park, "We met in Newport. He was attending UCLA but during one of their breaks he came to explore the OC."

"You lived in the OC?" Quinn questioned with great interest.

The young man nodded, "Yup."

"That must've been amazing."

He shrugged, "Not really. Living there you're surrounded by fake people who only care about gossip and plastic surgery."

"That's a rather harsh statement don'tcha think?"

"I'm entitled to have a few now and then."

A woman walking her dog passed by their bench.

"I met Jesse at this club, The Bait Shop, it's basically a place where the locals hang out and listen to live bands." Seth explained, "Some drunk idiots were giving me a hard time so Jesse stepped in to help me out." That was summing the story up. If Seth wanted to put more detail into it he could talk about himself getting beat up or about Jesse being the only person who tried to stop those evil goons from permanently scarring him. But no, that seemed like taking it too far. All she needed to know was that Jesse had been his hero so to speak. That he was a good guy.

"Oh my gosh.. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. I met my best friend that night. After that event Jesse and me started to hang out. He convinced me to come to New York with him."

"How long have you been living here then?"

"Almost two years. Jesse finished his year at UCLA and then we came here."

"Enough about him, tell me more about yourself."

"I'm really quite boring though." Seth commented.

"No you're not." Quinn replied, "Please?"

Seth chuckled, "Okay, I suppose the most exciting thing about me is that I'm an artist."

"Wow, really?"

Seth nodded again, "I almost created a comic book once. It was called Atomic County.. It was basically based on my life if I had super powers."

"That is so cool!"

Seth smiled, he liked seeing that Quinn was impressed with his abilities. "Next time you come over I could show you my sketches?"

"That would be great." Quinn smiled, "I think we should head back now though."

"Alright. Good idea."

Jesse was sitting in his spot on the recliner. His attention was directed on a classic game of Donkey Kong for the Super Nintendo. Living with Seth had brought out his inner geek. The boys often played video games together, visited the comic book store and watched marvel or comic based movies/cartoons a lot. However in return Jesse turned Seth into a theatre fan. At first Seth had been against it. He was pro Death Cab but anti showtunes. To him, broadway was a joke. That opinion changed drastically after living with Jesse.

He manipulated DK and Diddy Kong making them jump onto an evil Gnawty. His mind drifted from the game and onto Seth and Quinn. He wondered how their date was going. He was curious but he had no idea why. Sure Seth was his best friend but he barely paid attention to the girls Seth dated unless they got serious ( generally they didn't). The poor boy was still hung up on his ex girlfriend, Summer.

Jesse longed to meet Summer. He wanted to know what she was like, Seth briefly talked about her, Jesse never liked to pry because his friend was so sensative on the subject. He wondered if Summer missed Seth as much as he missed her.

The door crashed open.

Jesse looked up. "Good evening, nice of you to finally return. How was your date?"

Seth picked up the other controller. Jesse switched the game to two player.

"It was great. Quinn is an amazing girl. She's beautiful, funny, kind.."

"And? Do you have anything else to add to that list of why Quinn Fabray is perfect." Jesse made DK jump on a crate causing a Rhino to appear, "She really isn't perfect. The only person who I believe has been relatively close is Julie Andrews. It's a shame what happened to her voice. It's been years and it still saddens me. If I could I would adopt her into my family, I'd love for her to be my grandmother. Just imagine it."

"She's just not for me.." Seth stated softly ignoring Jesse's rant.

Jesse continued playing the game, "Oh.." Was all he said for a moment. "Because she's not.. Sum-"

"Yeah." Seth cut him off before he could finish her name.

Jesse frowned, "I'm sorry."

"I know. I just can't seem to get over her."

"You have to some day."

Seth sighed, "That day hasn't come yet. Sometimes I wonder if it ever will."

"It will. When it's time."

Seth looked away from the tv screen and over at Jesse, "Has your heart ever been broken before?"

They had never talked about Jesse's past relationships before. Jesse paused the game. "I guess you could say that it has. People may not believe considering the way the break up took place. I'm positive that the girl would never believe it. The way things happened, I made it seem like I didn't care. I went about it all wrong. I fell in love but it never would've worked out. She was the enemy." He unpaused the game. Clearly he didn't want to discuss the topic further. Seth respected that. The two continued to play for another hour. They played in silence and then went their separate ways to bed.

The next week Jesse and Seth spent their time following their regular routines. Seth worked at the comic book store. Jesse practiced with his fellow cast members, he had been selected to play Roger in a broadway production of Rent. This role would be Jesse's second broadway show. He was full of excitement and as much as he hated to admit it he was also nervous.

Quinn was distancing herself from the boys. This bothered Seth considering he hoped that Quinn would join his group of friends. Jesse wasn't bothered by the Quinn situation. The only thing he felt slightly annoying was Seth's constent talk about it. Jesse tried to tell his friend that it wasn't worth the fuss but it was no use. Luckily Jesse had a feeling he knew what the problem was. Once he received a phone call his idea was proven to be true. Now there were only two questions; Did Jesse want to help and would Quinn even let him if he tried?


	5. Chapter 5

After their successful date Seth assumed that Quinn would be fine with being his friend. He hoped that he'd be able to convince her to be Jesse's friend too except he knew that for now he needed to just take things one step at a time. Forcing Jesse and Quinn together would be like mission impossible except it wouldn't have a catchy theme song.

However Seth's assumption was wrong. His prediction of Quinn becoming his friend was proven wrong when she disappeared from his life. He tried to put himself out there by calling now and then or stopping by her side of the hall to knock on her door but no matter what he did she wouldn't answer him.

"Seth, you're obsessing."

Seth rolled his eyes at his friend, "No I'm not! I'm determined!"

"Obsessed, determined, same thing in this case."

Seth scoffed, "Just go to your rehearsal!"

"Gladly." Jesse chuckled slightly, "But dude, seriously, just let it go. You barely knew Quinn and it was only one date. Plus she hasn't even been living here for that long. She's probably busy with her classes or work? I don't know but really, she doesn't matter. Worrying over this is a waste of time. She's not worth it."

Jesse walked out of the apartment leaving Seth alone. Stopping in the hallway to button up his jacket his eyes fell on Quinn's door. He lied to Seth. He knew the problem and in theory it would disappear in a few days. Seth would be able to survive that much longer. Besides, he didn't see the point in helping Quinn. What had she ever done for him? Nothing that's what.

Seth thought about what Jesse had said. Even though he wasn't crushing on Quinn he still felt that she was worth it. Quinn had the potential to be a good friend. He liked being around her. So what if his Coheny ways were making things more dramatic. Jesse was dramatic all the time. Surely Seth could have a turn for a while.

"So what time should I meet you on skype?" Jesse questioned, talking on his iPhone. "Tomorrow night, sevenish." He repeated the answer to help himself remember, "Alright, that sounds perfect. Just to let you know I'll probably call in the morning though, after all it is a big day." Jesse smiled to himself as he listened to the caller on the other line. "Exactly, goodnight."

Jesse was clad in a pair of plaid pajama pants with a white tshirt. After a hard working practice Jesse always liked to go to bed early. He needed to keep his body well rested so that he'd be able to perform to the best of his abilities. Before going to bed he decided to go check on Seth who was watching tv. "Hey." He said as he walked into the living room.

"How was rehearsal?" Seth asked, looking up at his friend.

"Wonderfully draining."

Seth laughed softly. He never understood how Jesse could be such a hard worker. The boy wasn't satisfied until he was exhausted from whatever he was doing and sometimes that still didn't stop him.

"Did you spend your time stalking Quinn after your shift at the comic book store?" Jesse questioned with a teasing grin.

"Nah, I tried to follow your advice. If she wants space she can have it."

"So you're only going to torment her once a day then?"

"I prefer to use a different word over torment but yes, basically."

"Have fun with that. Well, I'm going to bed. Goodnight Seth."

Seth smiled a little, "Night Jesse."

The next morning Jesse woke up bright and early. After showering and getting dressed he took his spot in the recliner to enjoy his breakfast while listening to his iPod. About an hour later Seth joined him. The two boys talked for a few minutes but then Jesse left Seth alone because he had a phone call to make.

Seth contently ate his cereal. He could hear a happy Jesse from the other room.

_You gotta spend some time, love, you gotta spend some time with me and I know that you'll find love, I will possess your heart._

Seth grabbed his phone at the sound of the ring tone.

_'Jess isn't answering his phone. Get him to call me please? xo'_

Just as Seth was about to make a reply Jesse walked back into the room. "Hey, Mel texted me. She wants you to call her."

"Oh right!" Jesse exclaimed, obviously remembering something, "We're supposed to hang out today. I almost forgot. I think she's forcing me to go to the mall again. That girl is determined to get colors other than black in my closet."

"No wonder you forgot, that doesn't seem very appealing." Seth said jokingly with a grin happy that he wasn't the one being dragged to the mall this time.

"Yeah, laugh now, next week you'll be her project again. Enjoy your freedom while it lasts." Jesse replied while sending the girl a text message explaining that he was on his way.

"I guess I'll be seeing you later then."

"Mhmm, unless you want to come with us."

"Nah, I'm not in the mood to be a third wheel."

"Funny." Jesse said sarcastically before heading out the door, "Bye."

By the time Jesse got home Seth was still sitting in the same place on the couch. He walked inside the apartment carrying a bunch of shopping bags, "Seth, did you even move?"

"Yeah."

"Going to the bathroom doesn't count."

Seth frowned, "What about getting lunch?"

Jesse shook his head.

"In my defense there was a Batman movie marathon on tv."

"Is it still on?" Jesse asked, slightly intrigued.

Seth nodded with a grin.

Jesse reclaimed his place on the recliner. The shopping bags were set on the floor, Seth made a grab at them.

"What did you get?" He questioned while beginning to look through them, "What is this.. Blues, purples, reds.. plaid? These don't seem to belong in the closet of Jesse St James."

"They're all darker colors.. except for the red. She told me I could wear black sweaters over most of them. I don't know."

Seth grinned and made the whipped action.

"Shut up." Jesse threw a pillow at Seth.

"Hm, this one's almost over. Maybe I'll go try to invite Quinn over to watch the next one with us?" Seth suggested.

"Alright."

Seth finally stood up and made his way over to the other side of the hallway. He knocked once. No answer. Knock number two. Seth leaned in closely to the door, he could hear movement. "Quinn?" He called out before knocking the third time. To his surprise the door opened. Quinn was hiding slightly behind the door as she looked at him. Her face was puffy, tear stains surrounded her eyes. "Are you alright?" Seth asked instantly.

"I haven't been feeling well lately.. I still don't feel that good.." Quinn said quietly.

"Do you need anything?"

"I just want to be alone right now."

Seth could see over her head, there were piles of Kleenex everywhere. "Okay.. Bye then."

Quinn quickly shut the door. She could feel herself choking up as soon as she was alone again. She didn't know how she had managed to speak to Seth without breaking down right in front of him. She had been crying all day. She couldn't help it. Three years ago today she had given birth to a beautiful baby girl. The baby that she had to give away, the baby that would one day find out about this. Giving up her baby had been the hardest thing that Quinn had ever done. As soon as she was born Quinn was able to see her for a few minutes before she was taken away. In those few minutes Quinn had once again wanted to keep the child but she knew that she couldn't. She had only been a teenager at the time. By giving the baby away Quinn had given her a better life. But Quinn often thought that whenever her daughter learned the truth she'd eventually hate Quinn for leaving her. That was a scary thought for Quinn. One that made her cry even harder.

Seth stood awkwardly at the door. As soon as it had been slammed in his face he heard Quinn start to cry again. He couldn't understand this. Why was she so sad? Why wouldn't she let anyone help her? Seth pondered these thoughts as he went home.

"I take it your plans have failed again." Jesse commented, he was standing by the kitchen counter getting a drink.

"Yeah.. I think something's seriously wrong. She's been crying. A lot. There were tissues everywhere!"

"I'm sure you're exaggerating."

"Actually I'm not. If she had a cold I would've considered it to be really gross."

Jesse sipped his newly poured glass of water. He assumed that Seth would be obsessing over this for the remainder of the evening. Should he allow this or should he attempt to make Quinn feel better? He had the power to do either.

Setting the glass down in the sink Jesse left the apartment. He ignored Seth's questions because if he didn't just do it now then he wasn't sure if he'd be able to try again later. Reaching her door he knocked three times.

"Seth, I said I didn't want to talk." Came a muffled voice from the other side.

He knocked three more times.

"Please just go away."

Jesse knocked once more.

This time a defeated Quinn opened the door. "Jesse?" She whispered, surprised to see him. She had been expecting Seth.

"So I've heard that you've been doing a lot of crying lately." Jesse walked inside her apartment without asking, "Clearly you've also forgotten how to use a trash can." He commented, Seth's earlier statement had been right; there were tissues everywhere.

Quinn sniffed, "I'm not in the mood for you. Get out."

"Now why would you try to get rid of someone who can help you?" Jesse questioned, glancing around the apartment. He had never been there before.

"I highly doubt that you can help me." Quinn still wanted to cry except now she was beginning to get irritated too.

"I know where she is."

"..what?"

"Your daughter. I know where she is."

Quinn gasped but tried to keep herself composed, "Don't toy with me St. James."

"I wouldn't do that Fabray. Not about something like this."

Quinn stared at him. She felt weak. She stumbled over to the tissue covered couch. "How..?"

Jesse followed her to the couch. He brushed a few tissues away so that he could sit down too. "I'm kind of her Uncle Jesse."

"Who are her parents?"

"Parent actually. Shelby Corcoran adopted her."

They sat in silence. Quinn was trying to take it all in. She couldn't believe any of this. It was too much to handle. "W-what.. what's her name?"

"Beth." Jesse said, finally looking at her.

"Beth." Quinn repeated, "That's the name we wanted to use.."

Jesse nodded, "I know, that's why Shelby used it."

Another silence.

"Um, listen, I'm skyping with them tonight.. If you want you can come by.." Jesse offered, he was surprised at how awkwardly the words left his lips.

Quinn nodded eagerly, tears were forming. Jesse didn't know if they were happy or sad ones.

"Come by at seven... But yeah, I guess I'll be going then." He gave a small wave before leaving her apartment. What the heck was that? Jesse mentally punched himself. He had been doing so well and then suddenly when he tried to be nice he turned into a puddle of awkwardness. Pulling himself together he re-entered his apartment. He still had a few hours to kill until their skype time.

"Is she alright?"

"I think she will be." Jesse answered.

"Good. Now come on, you missed the beginning!"

The boys continued to watch their Batman movie marathon for the rest of the day.

7:00pm. Quinn wasn't sure what she was doing. She was standing outside Seth and Jesse's apartment. Taking a deep breath she knocked once.

Jesse answered, "You're just in time."

"Yeah.." Quinn said awkwardly.

"My laptop's running. Everything's ready. Shall we?"

Quinn nodded. Jesse led her back to his bedroom. Quinn hugged herself as she watched Jesse take his seat by the desk that his laptop was on. "Hey, she's here. I hope this is okay."

_"It's fine Jesse. I don't mind at all."_

Quinn heard Shelby's voice and got even more nervous.

_"Come here sweetie. Uncle Jesse's on the computer! He has a friend too!"_

A young girl ran over and jumped onto Shelby's lap.

Jesse laughed, "Well look who it is! It's the birthday girl!" He exclaimed happily causing the little girl to giggle.

Quinn watched the video on the screen. She couldn't believe it. That was her daughter. There she was. Beth.

"You're getting so old! Next time I come to visit I'm not going to recognize you!" Jesse continued.

_"I'm not old. You are!"_

Jesse and Shelby laughed at the girl's words.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right but listen, I have someone I'd like you to meet. Beth, this is Quinn." Jesse gestured to Quinn, trying to get her to come but she was too shocked to move. He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her over to him. When she was close enough he tugged on her a little more so that she'd fall into his lap. He only had one chair and if she stood the whole time she wouldn't be seen on the webcam.

Right now Quinn didn't care that she was sitting in Jesse's lap. She bearly noticed. The only thing she was focusing on was the child on the screen. "Hi.."

Beth was nervous seeing the new face. She hugged Shelby tighter and hid her face for a moment. While doing so she said something. Shelby laughed. _"Yes I agree, Quinn is very pretty."_

Quinn felt herself smile, "I think you're very pretty too Beth. I love your dress."

_"Thank you." _Beth replied shyly, sneaking another peek at her.

"So how old are you today?" Quinn asked, the smile still present on her lips.

_"Three." _Beth held up three fingers as she answered.

"Wow, that's really wonderful."

_"How old are you?"_ Beth asked with a small smile.

"I'm nineteen." Quinn told her.

Beth giggled, _"Wow, you're old too! Just like Jesse."_

"Yeah, I guess I am." Quinn looked at Jesse. He smiled at her.

Quinn, Jesse and Shelby sang Happy Birthday to Beth but then the conversation had to end because Shelby needed to put Beth to bed.

Quinn got up off Jesse's lap. He closed his laptop and stood beside her.

"Do you feel any better?" He asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Quinn nodded, "Yes." She was feeling a whirl wind of emotions. She wanted to hug him. She didn't think that there was anyway that he'd be able to understand what she was feeling right now. She didn't know how she'd ever be able to repay him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Promise me that you'll start talking to Seth again."

"Of course. I'll definitely do that."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Quinn nodded again and then went home. Suddenly she was so glad that Jesse St. James was her neighbour.


End file.
